Laid-off Lancashire NHS staff receive pay-outs after union campaign, says UNISON

More than 50 Lancashire-based NHS workers, made redundant on Easter Sunday without compensation, have received pay-outs after a union campaign.

Liverpool-based Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust closed its Whalley site, formerly known as Calderstones Hospital, in East Lancashire on March 31.

Workers at the hospital were told they’d be offered alternative employment at the trust’s Aspen site in Liverpool or another trust in Lancashire.

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Many of the affected workers were unable to make the 80-mile round trip to Liverpool each day and the promised posts in Lancashire failed to materialise.

Mersey Care refused to offer any redundancy pay to the workers, claiming the alternative employment offered was sufficient.

Members of the union, UNISON, started a campaign to secure the compensation, launching an online petition that received over 1,400 signatures.

UNISON is the UK’s largest union with more than 1.3 million members providing public services in education, local government, the NHS, police service and energy.

The union says pressure from the petition and letters sent to trust bosses by the public led to redundancy pay being offered.

UNISON says it has helped many of the jobless staff into alternative NHS jobs since the closure of the Calderstones site.

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Michelle Smith, a former medical secretary at the Whalley site, said: “We are delighted the trust has finally paid us what we were owed,

“Being laid off on Easter Sunday with no guarantee of alternative employment or redundancy pay was a horrible experience. I’ve worked in the NHS for 32 years. I couldn’t believe I was treated that way.

“I’m glad our campaign has been successful. Like many of my colleagues, I’ve had to make sacrifices to pay my bills and I’ve been worried sick about the prospect of not being able to get a new job.

Martin Garlick, the UNISON representative at the hospital, said: “It’s a huge relief for many of these workers to be paid the money they need to tide them over until they can find another NHS job.

“While it’s a shame it came to this, I’m proud of the UNISON campaign and grateful for everyone in the community who supported these dedicated NHS staff.

“Alongside the campaign for redundancy pay, UNISON has also been successful in securing alternative work for many of the affected workers. We will do our utmost to keep as many people as possible in NHS employment.”

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